HE HAD ONLY BEEN OUT TODAY TO GET FOOD, for himself and his mother. The late spring had arrived, and the young boy -- currently eleven, had traveled into market in hopes of buying rice and other essentials. In his pack were the coins he had gathered from past performances: storytelling and the like. Guarding it was his shamisen ; the magical instrument swung and bumped up against his back with each striding step he took.
Maneuvering himself through a small crowd of villagers, some of whom recognized him from his street shows, the one-eyed youth navigated is way toward the familiar place where he usually bought his rice from.
However, he is a child, and justifiably, he had the attention-span of a goldfish sometimes. Something catches that lonely, tawny eye: the sight of a CAGE that looked as big as he was, and there was something cooped up inside it. Since he hardly ever got the opportunity to be around them, the young bard had always been curious about animals, and he wondered what poor, pitiful creature could have been locked up inside that bird cage.
It wouldn’t hurt to look. He had plenty of time before sundown. It would probably be something akin to a child looking at animals in a pet store. So he sauntered toward it, head cocked with a healthy dose of curiosity. // @ariisen
